Zero-Velocity Hover: Solving GPS-Denied Drone Stability

A developer building a custom autonomous drone stack details how to achieve stable hover without GPS using ArduPilot's GUIDED mode and a velocity mask. By sending continuous zero-velocity commands via MAVLink, the drone holds position using only optical flow and LiDAR sensors. The fix avoids the 'zero-throttle drop' trap that occurs when switching to LOITER mode with a resting throttle stick.